UW Women | Emily Florence's short stature doesn't diminish impact

It's an improbable scene that for four seasons has played out repeatedly in Washington women's basketball games.

A shot is missed, and a flash mob of tall bodies converges beneath the backboard. From within this chest-banging, hip-tossing mosh pit, the shortest player on the court (likely in the entire Pac-10) inexplicably emerges with the ball, flames seemingly flicking off the tip of her brunette ponytail as she races away.

How does Emily Florence, all 5 feet 5 of her, DO that?

"Rebounding is an attitude," said Washington coach Tia Jackson. "Emily's got that attitude."

It has been a lackluster season for the Huskies. They're 12-16 overall, 7-9 in Pac-10 games, with almost zero chance of making a third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament as they face No. 7 Stanford (25-3, 14-2) at 7 p.m. today at Edmundson Pavilion.

But the diminutive Florence has been Washington's brightest light, a nonstop tumbleweed of hustle, ingenuity and grit.

The former homecoming queen from Boise, a senior, will make her 109th consecutive start tonight, taking the court ranked among the top 10 players in six Pac-10 statistical categories, including assists, steals and minutes played.

Her most impressive stat? She is tied for eighth among league rebounders with 6.4 per game — an eye-popping number, considering that everyone else in the top 10 stands at least 8 inches taller. (The leader averages 9.6.)

That's if you accept that Florence is 5-5. She concedes she's not quite that tall, though she won't confirm an exact number. She has not allowed herself to be measured since her freshman year, when she elected to go in the books as 5-5.

"It just sounded better," said Florence, one of just five Pac-10 players this season listed at 5-5. One Arizona reserve is 5-4.

So, how does she get all those rebounds?

"I think I read the ball coming off the rim pretty well," said Florence, who averaged 5.2 boards last season, tied for team high. "The big girls are always trying to box each other out. Sometimes they forget about me, so I can sneak in there."

Florence, 22, knows her energy annoys opponents.

"I can hear other coaches screaming to box out after I sneak in there and grab a ball," she said. "Even in our practices when I get rebounds people start yelling at each other."

Florence's most obvious attribute is her toughness.

The Florence whomp — the sound her 110-pound frame makes as she gets body-slammed to the floor by bigger players — is almost as familiar in UW games as the scoreboard buzzer.

In a November tournament in Hawaii, a collision with one of Northern Arizona's big players drove Florence's teeth through her lower lip.

Florence's father, an oral surgeon, came out of the stands and stitched her up. Did he tell his only daughter to ease up?

"Oh, no," Florence said "He always tells me to work hard, be physical and stay tough. Just wear my mouth guard."

Florence grew up as the lone girl in a household with three older brothers, all of whom played baseball. (Middle brother Branden, 30, last year played Class AA ball in the Phillies' system.) Her education in toughness began at home.

"It was fun growing up with the boys," she said. "I always tried to tag along and play with them and their friends.

"They didn't really take it too easy on me. I'd come crying to my parents, and they'd tell me to go back out and just keep playing. But they were good brothers. They taught me a lot. They made me really tough and aggressive on the court, and I love playing that way. I don't like to be pushed around. But I like to get the ball and go."